Sir, – It is that time of year when we are treated to the publication in the national newspapers of lists purporting to represent the latest “school league tables”. And they are – in a kind of Eurovision song contest sense – a source of momentary entertainment. This is because we all scan the lists searching for the place achieved by our Alma Mater, or, depending on our age, the school attended by our offspring.
However, these lists are much more likely to misinform readers than they are to inform them. Much, for example, is made of the fact that fee-charging schools consistently achieve places at the top of the list. One could be forgiven for thinking that students attending these schools have a better chance of attending a third-level institution because they are the best schools with the best teachers and resources (don’t they appear at the top of the list year after year?).
It is much more likely that the social background of students enrolled in these schools has conferred all sorts of advantages on them before they put one foot in the school building. For that reason, it is almost certain that, if the exercise was repeated while taking into account (or controlling for) the socio-economic status of students enrolled, the resulting ranking of schools would be very different. – Yours, etc,
Dr SUSAN WEIR,
(Research Fellow),
Educational Research
Centre,
St Patrick’s College,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – A doctor from a school of economics (Dr Kevin Denny, November 29th) supports the use of school league tables. Does this mean that the compilation of such tables is also a dismal science? – Yours, etc,
JOHN THREADGOLD,
Pollerton, Little Carlow.
A chara, – Christopher Hone's precis (November 28th) of the reasons why The Irish Times should discontinue the practice of publishing school league tables is apt, but I suspect that the practice will not stop because The Irish Times has correctly identified a hunger among a large proportion of parents for such detail. We are essentially a lazy species and if the publication of such school league tables justifies the choice of school for our offspring then we clearly do not need to engage in any further research. – Is mise,
GREG SCANLON,
Ballycasey Manor,
Shannon, Co Clare.